The Marauders and the Fetch of Hogwarts

Herbology a week later had Remus wondering at James' sanity. He kept dropping an iron bar he'd picked up by the door of the greenhouse, allowing it to clang right directly in front of Remus. The clanging sound made the werewolf's sensitive ears ache with the echo effect of repeated droppings. Whatever James had hoped to accomplish Remus never knew, for James discarded the bar in disgust as soon as they left the greenhouse.

Peter had been scribbling something in a notebook the entire time.

Remus had looked at Sirius to see if the other Gryffindor had thought their behavior odd in the slightest but Sirius was busy yammering about the upcoming Quidditch match two days before Halloween. It was to be Gryffindor against Hufflepuff and as the first game the Gryffindors played this year, excitement was building. Shrugging off James' behavior as him being weird, Remus joined the chatter that grew around the upcoming game and James' intended performance.

Remus tried to forget the disappointed look on James' face when nothing happened each time he dropped the iron bar.

The Saturday of the Quidditch match dawned and it was all any of the three of them could do to get James to eat. He was so nervous and excited Remus swore James had already lost what food he had in his stomach from the previous evening.

By noon, the stands were full to bursting and Sirius, Remus and Peter were practically hanging over the side of the Gryffindor stands, shouting and yelling with the rest of their house as the Gryffindor Quidditch team came zooming out onto the pitch. The stands were awash with colors of the four houses of Hogwarts, as well as varying colors from non-student spectators. There were just as many adults crammed into the seats as there were students.

The game commenced and the three boys about killed themselves with glee as James grabbed the Quaffle and made a beeline right for the Hufflepuff keeper. Right before he got to the small blonde boy in front of the Hufflepuff goal, James made a hard right and tossed the red ball at his fellow chaser, Karla Riverstone. Riverstone almost casually threw the ball through the lower hoop as the Hufflepuff keeper tried to turn his broom around from where he'd gone over to block James.

Gryffindor screamed its approval.

That was the pattern of the game, a series of feints and bluffs that had Hufflepuff fuming by the time the snitch was caught by Gryffindor, putting the score 270 to 50. The Gryffindors about tore the stands down as they scrambled to congratulate their team on the overwhelming victory. Remus, Sirius and Peter led the pack, making a beeline right for James.

Sirius was the first one to realize that something wasn't right with James Potter. The slightly built chaser winced with every movement and his eyes were ablaze. "What happened?" demanded Sirius. Peter and Remus caught on quickly that there was something wrong.

"I flew by the Slytherin stands, grew really woozy and turned to see Snape standing there looking very smug," James reported grimly, clutching his broom for dear life. Remus noticed that the wood handle of the broom was rammed into the ground.

"Here," Remus said. "Lean on me before you break your broom handle." James complied, lips thinning and going white at the movements.

"What happened then?" asked Peter anxiously, his gaze traveling over the crowd. Remus realized that Peter was guarding, playing the watchdog while they got the injured boy out of the line of fire. Slowly Sirius and Remus extricated James from the exuberant crowd and headed to the locker room with the rest of the team.

"Can't prove a thing," spat Perkins, as soon as James reported the incident. "I have no doubts whatsoever that they did something but we can't prove it by saying James saw Snape smirking."

"I know, I know," James replied tiredly.

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Sirius worriedly. "Want us to wait until you're done showering, help you back?"

"We'll bring him back," assured Perkins grimly. "If he's no better after a shower, I'll personally take him to the hospital wing." James grimaced but everyone ignored him. "You three..." Perkins grinned triumphantly. "You three announce that there is going to be a PARTY in GRYFFINDOR HOUSE tonight!" Perkins shouted out this announcement and the team cheered loudly but tiredly with him.

Remus, Peter and Sirius departed, assuring the jubilant but exhausted Quidditch team that everything would be ready for some heavy partying by the time they go to the tower. As soon as the three of them exited the locker rooms, Sirius began muttering threats under his breath.

"Slytherins...get them...hexes...potions...VENGEANCE!" Remus and Peter rolled eyes at each other. Sirius was getting overly dramatic again.

"Let's find out what was done to him first, shall we?" placated Remus in an equally dramatic voice. He almost growled in his throat when he continued, "*Then* we'll decide how a certain Slytherin shall pay."

Sirius gave a very wolf-like grin, all teeth and malice.

James never returned to Gryffindor Tower. Perkins grimly reported to the assembled Gryffindors that their second year chaser was in the infirmary with a knee-reversing hex. Apparently the hex hadn't been detected until James went to pull off his pants and behold, his knees were on backward. It also accounted for why he wasn't walking very well; in fact, he'd been walking very stiffly.

Sirius was on the warpath, along with half the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Peter was looking grim and dragging books on jinxes and hexes that other Gryffindors were dragging from trunks and shelf units to the center table in the common room to allow people to pore over them for retaliation spells. Remus was feeling distinctly uncharitable himself but he had a better idea. He went upstairs and dug around in the top drawer of his bedside table until he found what he was looking for. Waving it triumphantly, Remus shoved it under Sirius' nose.

Sirius turned purple. "Remus," he wheezed from lack of air from his outraged screaming. Apparently, Sirius didn't have the air or the words.

Remus grinned ferally. "I know. Peter! Let's go!"

Madam Pince wasn't happy to see them or Remus' note from Dumbledore granting him permission to use the Restricted Section. She cloistered the three students into the Restricted Section of the library with a terse recommendation to be quiet and behave. Remus wasn't sure they were capable of either choice but they *did* try. Remus found the perfect vengeance spell in the second book he looked at.

"Here!" he hissed, pointing at page 198 of Magikos Taleiporos, or Wretched Magic.

Sirius turned the book around to where he could read it and almost immediately began to cackle. "Write it down," he sniggered in an evil tone.

"What is it?" asked Peter, leaning over Sirius' shoulder. A slow grin spread across Peter's face. "Oh my." He shared a sly look with Remus. "It's perfect."

"I thought so too." Remus began to immediately scribble down the particulars of the spell. "It's pretty advanced though, but I think we can do it. We'll need something to practice on."

Sirius continued to grin. "I know just the thing!" Remus bit back a groan, closed the book and followed his two friends out of the library. Madam Pince merely watched them go with a suspicious sniff.

When James finally made it from the infirmary an hour before supper, the other three were ready. James, naturally, was livid. Apparently the cure for the hex was beyond "extremely painful", considering James' snapped reply to Peter's inquiry using those very words. By the time supper was over, James was more than enthusiastic regarding the use of the spell and its complexities.

"No problem," he waved away the feeble arguments they presented. "After holiday break. That should give us enough time to practice. In the meantime, we need to make sure that everyone else knows we have the situation under control." The four nodded and began to spread the word that the Slytherins were not going to get away with their attack on James. The revenge might be a bit long in coming but the result would be more than worth the wait.